Various medical devices have been developed to deliver warming therapy and cooling therapy to patients recovering from injuries or surgeries. Additionally, it is known to provide a pressurized massage therapy, sometimes referred to as external pneumatic compression (“EPC”), to these patients. Typical recipients of these therapies are patients recovering from orthopedic surgeries or injuries to various areas of the anatomy, particularly legs and knee and shoulder joints. A cooling therapy, heating therapy, and compression therapy can also be combined with a motion therapy in which a patient's joint is carefully and slowly moved through its natural motion so as to maintain flexibility in the joint. The above-described therapies have proven useful in speeding recovery and avoiding deleterious impacts of deep vein thrombosis among other benefits.
In typical therapeutic arrangements an external control device provides a mechanical pumping and circulation force as well as an automated control of the pneumatic forces. Fluids from the control device are passed through flexible tubes which are then directed to a core to be wrapped around the area to receive therapy. In this manner heated fluids, chilled fluids, and/or air pressure can be administered to the injured area when the core is applied to or wrapped around the patient's body. Arrangements of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,285; and US Published Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0058911, both of which are incorporated herein by reference to describe the general level of knowledge held by persons skilled in the art.
Nevertheless, the systems and methods described in the prior art continue to suffer from various shortcomings and are in need of improvement. One such shortcoming relates to the high cost associated with the core portion of the thermal compression therapy apparatus. The core portion, that portion of the apparatus that is wrapped around an area of the patient's body (a knee joint for example) is generally an expensive item. It comprises various tubings and channels that distribute the fluids through the core so that they will surround the area to be treated. However, the core necessarily comes into contact with the patient. Thus, the core can easily become contaminated with blood and other discharges and fluids emitted by the recovering patient. Also, good hygiene practices also call for the sterilization of each core after a treatment if the core is to be reused. However, given the somewhat delicate nature of the materials and structures contained within the core a sterilization process is not effective. Given the cost of the core, throwing each core away after a single use is an expensive option. Thus, it would be desired to find a way to easily reuse cores so that a single core can be used multiple times before it needs to be discarded.
Further, the core structure itself suffers from various limitations in the present design and is in need of improvement. As previously described, a patient's joint, for example the knee joint, can be gradually flexed during a treatment. This movement of the joint necessarily flexes the core that is wrapped around the joint. During such therapies there is a tendency within the core to fold and obstruct portions of the core that is repeatedly being bent. The cores can then suffer from malfunction or poor performance (even distribution of fluids) as various tubings are obstructed. There exists a need to overcome this shortcoming in current core designs.
An additional need for improvement relates to the heating and cooling therapy applied to the patient. In current methods there is no direct way to determine the skin temperature of the patient in that area where the patient is receiving therapy. The skin is typically covered by the core. However, that is an important item of data to assure that the patient's body is not being overheated (burned) or overly chilled (frost bitten). Elderly patients or patients with severe trauma may suffer from an inability to sense temperature extremes; thus it falls upon the attending technician, nurse, or other professional to maintain a proper temperature. While the temperature exiting from the control machine can sometimes be programmed there is needed a way to confirm that the temperature at the patient also corresponds to that temperature. Hence, it would be desired to provide a core that enables a quick, easy, and reliable detection and confirmation of the patient's skin temperature where covered by the core.
Hence there has been identified a need to provide an improved therapy core and related system for providing warming therapy, cooling therapy, and compression therapy. It would be desired that the improved system or apparatus allow for multiple uses. It would further be desired that the improved system or apparatus provide an improved function, both with relation to fluid distribution and with respect to temperature detection. Further, there is a need that the improved Thermal compression therapy apparatus and system be adapted for use with present controllers and pneumatic devices. Finally, there is a need for an improved therapy core to provide a robust and strong performance while at the same time providing cost advantages over presently known systems and methods.